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STEPHEN  R  WEEKS 

CLASS  OF  1886;  PH  D  THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY 


THE  WEEKS  C(0)LILECTI(0)N 


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MRS.  KERENHAPPUCH  TURNER. 


A  Heroine  of  177  6. 


AN  ADDRESS 


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G.  S.  BRADSHAW,  ESQ., 

fccasion  of  the  Unveiling  of  a  Monument 
to  Her  Memory,  at  the  Guilford  Battle 
Ground,  July  4th,  1902. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

THE  GUILFORD  BATTLE  GROUND  COMPANY 

GREENESBORO,    N.,C. 


T  jU  V'  /iTii 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2010  witii  funding  from 

University  of  Nortii  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/mrskerenhappuchtOObrad 


MRS.  KERENHAPPUCH  TURNER. 


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Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

It  has  been  truly  said  that  a  people  is  poor  who  have 
no  days  to  celebrate  and  a  people  is  rich  whose  history 
is  full  of  heroic  days.  The  history  of  North  Carolina, 
g'lorious  as  it  is,  in  its  recital  of  heroic  virtue  and  brave 
deeds,  tells  us  of  no  day  more  lustrous  than  that  we  cel- 
ebrate today — "the  supreme  moment  in  the  life  of  Corn- 
wallis  and  the  crisis  in  the  Revolution,"  when  the  fatal 
wound  was  given  to  royal  authoritv  from  which  it  ling^er- 
ed  and  lingering  died  seven  months  thereafter  at  York- 
town.  I  rejoice  and  exult  with  you  over  the  fact  that  to- 
day our  annual  pilgrimage  to  this  historic  spot  hallow- 
ed scarcely  more  by  the  memories  of  the  brave  deeds  of 
the  dead  heroes  who  made  it  famous  than  by  the  patriotic 
and  unselfish  efforts  of  the  few  who  have  been  dutifully 
engaged  in  the  pious  work  of  preserving  and  perpetuat- 
ing its  name  and  fame  is  under  auspices  most  delightful 
and  inspiring. 

Who  on  this  bright,  cloudless  day,  filled  with  God's 
own  sunshine,  can  look  without  a  sense  of  delight  upon 
this  magnificient  Park,  with  its  charming  groves  of  state- 
ly oaks,  its  waving  grain,  its  beautiful  flowers,  its  lovely 
lake,  its  cool  springs,  its  green  meadows  and  its  sacred 
acres  of  hill  and  vale.'  Who  on  this  anniversary  of  tbe 
birthday  of  our  Republic  in  the  presence  of  this  multitude 
of  God's  own  people,  moved  by  patriotic  impulse  to  keep 
it  holy,  can  behold  without  a  thrill  of  inspiration  these 
splendid  monuments  and  these  beautiful  memorial  stones 
erected  to  tell  us  and  those  after  us  of  self-sacrifice,  noble 
deeds  and  heroic  virtues.'  Who  that  looks  upon  this 
sacred  spot  and  recalls  its  deathless  record,  reclaim- 
ed as  it  is,  beautified  and  decorated  with  these  imposing 


memnrials,  is  not  moved  to  uncover  in  presence  of  Judge 
Schenck  and  Maj.  Morehead,  who  have  led  at  untold  sac- 
rifice in  the  great  work  here  accomplished?  This  audi- 
ence needs  not  to  be  told  of  the  great  work  of  Judge 
Schenck,  who  first  secured  for  the  l^attle  Ground  Asso- 
ciation lodgement  in  the  public  attention  of  this  State 
and  successfully  invoked  the  aid  of  our  Stale  Legislature. 
Nor  does  it  need  to  be  reminded  of  the  strenuous  efforts 
of  Maj.  Morehead  throughout  these  years  and  that  as  the 
acting  President  of  this  Association  for  some  years  past 
has  succeeded  in  securing  for  it  a  surer  and  more  exalted 
place  in  the  patriotic  love  of  the  people  of  this  State. 

We  may  rejoice  today  over  another  fact  and  for  anoth- 
er reason.  Not  only  does  this  Company  or  Association 
occupy  a  higher  and  safer  place  in  the  affections  of  our 
own  people  and  under  the  fostering  and  continuing  care 
of  state  legislation  than  ever  before,  but  through  the 
vigilance  and  diligence  of  President  Morehead  and  our 
representatives  of  all  parties  in  Congress,  the  favoring 
eye  and  the  fostering  hand  of  the  National  Government 
have  been  attracted  as  never  before.  More  prom- 
inently and  favorably  than  ever  before  does  our  Company 
stand  in  the  esteem  of  Congress  and  the  people  of  all 
sections  of  this  great  country  as  is  illustrated  by  the 
action  of  the  present  House  of  Representatives  in  voting 
two  monuments  to  Generals  Nash  and  Davidson  because 
of  what  has  been  done  here  and  because  of  the  avowed 
declaration  that  they  should  be  located  here.  This  is  as  it 
should  be,  for  does  not  its  history  and  every  memory 
attaching  to  it  belong  to  our  whole  country.''  I  am  per- 
suaded that  if  Congress  and  the  whole  country  could  see 
with  their  own  eyes  what  we  behold  today  with  ours, 
these  nineteen  monuments  and  the  great  work  here  ac- 
complished by  individual  effort  in  preserving  and  caring 
for  this  great  battle  field  on  which  was  fought  the  critical, 
the  tuDiiii^  and  the  greatest  battle  of  the  Revolution  — 
that  battle  which  meant  so  much  and  was  the  means  of 


3 

securing  so  much  not  only  for  our  forefathers  but  for  all 
succeeding  generations,  no  Congress  would  refuse  or  hes- 
itate in  extending  the  fostering  hand  of  the  national  Gov- 
ernment in  aid  of  its  permanent  preservation. 

But  this  patriotic  Company  is  not  waiting  for  outside 
help,  badly  as  it  needs  it.     We  are  here  today  to  witness 
again   further  evidence  of  its  self-sacrifice  and  labor  of 
love.     Yonder  stand — hidden  as  yet  from  your  view — two 
more  monuments  which  we  are  met  to  dedicate  and  unveil 
to-day  and  which  shall  stand  through  coming  time  to  tell 
you  and  yours  and   those  who  shall  come  after  you  of  the 
virtues  of  a  brave,  good  woman,  and  the  story  of  a  great 
man.     The  story  of  this  great  man,  Nathaniel  Macon,  you 
have  just  heard  from  the  eloquent  gentleman  (Mr.   Pitt- 
man)  who  preceded  me.     It  is   for  me  to  tell  you  some- 
thing of  the  brave  woman  in  honor  of  whose  memory  we 
today  unveil  on  this  sacred  spot  the  first  monument  ever 
erected    on    American    soil  to  a   Revolutionary   heroine. 
In  song  and  in  story^"in    thoughts  that  breathe  and  in 
words  that  burn" — have  been  toid  again  and  again  the  sto- 
ry of  the  virtues,  the  brave  deeds,  the  sacrifice,  the  suffer- 
ing and  the  heroism  of  the  men   who  fought,  bled   and 
died  in  that  terrible  war  for  Indepe  ndence,  but  the  story 
of  the  privation,  the  suffering,  the  daring  and  the  dying 
of  tlic  grand  reserve  army   of  that  war  is  yet  untold   and 
unsung.     The  women  by  their  lonely  hearthstones  sur- 
rounded by  helpless  children  in  the  primeval  forests,  with- 
out mail  or  telegr  aph  or  Railroad  to  bring  them  tidings 
of  the  absent  loved  ones — their  griefs,  their  sorrow,  their 
suspense,    their  anxiety,  their  agony — their  death  borne 
without  a  murmur.     They  died    not  in  the  exciting  and 
exulting   rush    of  battle.      Theirs   was   the  long,    slow, 
wasting,  lingering  death — a    thousand   deaths.       Some- 
times it  was  coldblooded  murder;    sometimes   it  was  the 
cold,  piercing  cutting  dagger  of  helpless  grief  and  some- 
times they  fell  under  the    crushing  burden  of  domestic 
care   and    trouble.      Their   battles   were  fought    in    the 


darkness  and  loneliness  and  silence  of  their  homes. 
They  heard  not  the  martial  music  which  thrilled 
heroes;  they  felt  not  the  elbow  touch  which  heroes 
feel  in  the  mad  rush  of  battle.  There  was  never  a  shout 
or  cheer  to  give  them  courage  and  strength.  There 
were  no  medals  awarded  to  them;  no  promotions  were 
bestowed  to  stimulate  them.  Theirs  was  a  lonel)-  march 
to  death,  and  yet  how  bravely  and  how  patiently  they 
fought  to  the  end  no  tongue  or  pen  can  ever  tell.  These 
were  heroines— and  whilst  in  village,  hamlet,  town  and 
city,  from  ocean  to  ocean,  we  have  with  stone  and 
brass  built  memorials  of  every  name,  size  and  kind 
in  honor  of  our  heroes,  the  mothers,  the  wives  and  the 
daughters  of  that  awful  time  who  toiled  and  suffered  and 
died  for  their  country  are  unwept,  unhonored  and  unsung. 
Not  only  did  they  suffer  and  fight  and  toil  thus  in  their 
lonely  and  desolate  homes,  but  these  ministers  of  com- 
passion, these  angels  of  pity,  whenever  possible,  went  to 
the  battle  fields  to  moisten  the  parched  tongues,  to  bind 
the  ghastly  wounds,  and  to  soothe  the  parting  agonies 
alike  of  friend  and  foe,  and  to  catch  the  last  whispered 
messages  of  love  from  d}-ing  lips.  Not  since  Aaron  stood 
between  the  living  and  the  dead  has  there  ever  been  a 
ministry  so  gracious,  so  patient,  so  self-sacrificing,  so 
tender,  so  gentle  and  so  faithful  as  was  that  of  the  hero- 
ines of  the  Revolution. 

Among  the  brave  women  who  hastened  to  the  field  of  the 
battle  of  Guilford  Court  House  to  minister  to  the  wound- 
ed and  the  dying  was  Mrs.  Kerenhappuch  Turner,  whose 
sons  and  grandsons  were  with  Gen.  Greene  in  this  battle. 
Mrs  Kerenhappuch  Turner  was  the  wife  of  James  Turner 
one  of  theearly  settlers  of  Maryland,  possessed  of  his  cour- 
agerous  spirit  as  well  as  noted  for  her  skill  in  nursing  the 
sick,  and  her  wisdom,  tact  and  energy.  She  loved  her 
children  with  the  devotion  of  a  true  mother,  but  she  loved 
her  country  also.  Sending  forth  her  sons  to  the  defense 
of  their  country,  she  exacted  from  them  the  promise  that 


5 

she  should  be  kept  informed  of  their  whereabouts  and 
there  needs  that  she  might  continue  to  minister  to  them. 
One  of  these  sons  received  a  fearful  wound  in  the  battle 
of  Guilford  Court  House,  but  the  brave  mother  came  to 
him,  riding  on  horseback  all  the  way  from  her  home  in 
Mary,  land  and  herself  nursed  him  back  into  life  and 
service.  Placing  him  in  a  log  cabin,  near  this  spot 
whereon  we  now  stand,  upon  the  floor,  beneath  the  bare 
rafters  she  bored  holes  in  tubs  which  she  suspended  from 
these  rafters  above  the  ghastly  wounds  and  keeping  these 
tubs  filled  with  cool  water  from  the  "Bloody  Run"  near 
by  the  constant  dripping  upon  the  wound  allayed  the 
fever,  and  she  thus  improvised  a  treatment  as  efficacious 
as  the  "ice  pack"  of  modern  science. 

One  of  her  daughters,  Elizabeth,  married  Joseph  More- 
head,  of  North  Carolina,  of  Scotch  ancestry  and  her  de- 
scendants have  ever  been  noted  for  their  love  of  country 
and  public  spirit.  Another  daughter,  Mary,  married 
Charles,  the  brother  of  Joseph  Morehead,  and  left  off- 
spring in  the  West.  Of  these  Governor  Charles  S.  More- 
head  of  Kentucky  and  his  cousin.  Governor  James  Tur- 
ner' Morehead  of  the  same  State,  have  been  eminent 
statesmen,  having  served  not  only  as  Governor,  but  also 
in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  from  that  State. 

The  North  Carolina  branch  of  the  family  has  given  to 
this  State  the  late  Governor  John  M.  Morehead,  one  of 
the  greatest,  if  not  the  greatest  Governor  our  State  has 
yet  produced,  who  was  a  great  leader  of  the  old  Whig 
party,  and  the  greatest  internal  improvement  man  the 
State  has  yet  known,  and  his  brother,  Hon.  James  Turner 
Morehead,  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  distinguished 
lawyers  of  his  day  in  this  State,  and  who  at  one  time  rep- 
resentedthis  District  in  Congress  where  he  could  have 
remained  indefinitely  but  for  his  positive  refusal  to  remain 
in  Congress.  He  preferred'  his  profession  to  which  he 
was  devoted. 

The  late  Gov.  Morehead  is  survived  by  one  son,  Maj. 


6 

J.  Turner  Morehead,  now  of  New  York  City.  The  only 
surviving  sons  of  the  late  Hon.  James  Turner  Morehead 
are  Col.  James  T.  Morehead,  one  of  the  leading  and  most 
distinguished  members  of  the  Greensboro  bar,  who,  like 
his  father,  is  devoted  to  his  profession,  preferring  it  to 
political  honors,  and  Maj.  Joseph  M.  Morehead,  who  is 
now  and  has  been  for  some  years  the  acting  President  of 
the  Guilford  Battle  Ground  Company.  It  was  the  latter 
who  conceived  the  idea  of  erecting  the  beautiful  monu- 
ment which  we  dedicate  and  unveil  to-day  in  honor  of 
the  memory  of  Kerenhappuch  Turner.  The  conception 
of  this  idea  was  submitted  by  him  to  his  patriotic  kins- 
man, Maj.  J.  Turner  Morehead  of  New  York  City,  who 
like  all  members  of  this  distinguished  family,  is  noted 
for  his  public  spirit,  and  who  with  enthusiasm  as  well  as 
with  purse  and  brain,  joined  President  Morehead  in  the 
execution  of  the  idea  under  the  auspices  of  said  Com- 
pany'. These  two  men  are,  therefore,  entitled  to  the 
honor  of  erecting  here  the  first  monument  ever  built  in 
America  to  a  Revolutionary  heroine — an  honor  of  which 
they  may  well  be  proud  and  which  entitles  them  to  the 
gratitude  of  every  man  who  loves  his  country.  They 
have  set  an  example  worth}'  of  imitation,  which  it  is  to 
be  hoped  will  stimulate  others  to  like  manifestation  of 
patriotic  and  filial  piety. 

We  honor  ourselves  in  honoring  the  brave  and  good 
woman  of  whom  I  speak  today.  Her  long  ride,  her 
gentle  touch,  her  tact,  her  skill  and  her  heroic  service 
saved  the  life  of  her  son.  It  was  an  Ancient  Roman 
touched  perhaps  by  a  transient  gleam  of  Christian  truth, 
who  said  when  he  turned  aside  from  a  career  of  Asiatic 
Conquest  that  he  would  rather  save  a  human  life  than 
become  master  of  all  the  dominions  of  Mithridates. 
This  is  but  one  life  of  which  history  and  tradition  tell  us. 
How  many  were  saved  by  the  tender  ministry  of  the 
brave  women  of  that  awful  time  will  never  be  known. 
The  history  of  the  part    enacted    by    them    in  that  great 


struggle  has  never  been  written.  I  salute  the  Daughters 
of  the  American  Revolution  who  honor  us  today  with 
their  presence,  and  bid  them  God-speed  in  their  pious 
and  patriotic  work  of  rescuing  from  oblivion  the  history 
of  those  heroic  days.  They  can  render  their  sex  and 
their  country  no  greater  service  than  that  of  rescuing 
from  oblivion  those  records  and  traditions  which  tell 
us  of  the  glorius  deeds  and  God-like  sacrifices  of  the 
brave  women  of  those  days.  It  is  fit,  Mr.  President, 
that  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution  should  join  with 
us  in  the  tribute  we  pay  today  to  one  who  glorified  her 
sex  in  her  homely  toils  and  in  her  angelic  ministry  upon 
this  battle-field  where  valor  wrote  in  crimson  letters 
"the  purple  testament  of  bleeding  war." 

It  is  meet,  too,  that  on  this  Sabbath  of  our  Government 
this  uncounted  multitude  should  come  and  share  with  us 
the  honor  of  dedicating  to  a  brave  woman  this  beautiful 
monument  around  which  in  the  coming  years  youth  and 
age  shall  gather  and  linger  to  read  its  story,  and  to  study 
the  annals  emblazoned  by  the  Christ-like  services  of  the 
heroines  of  the  Revolution. 

Then  upon  this  holy  ground  whereon  fell  the  tears  of 
our  mothers  and  the  blood  of  our  fathers  in  the  starless 
night  of  their  supremest  effort,  let  us  reverently  uncover 
in  the  presence  of  this  most  fitting  and  beautiful  memo- 
rial to  the  memory  of  a  Revolutionary  mother. 

"  The  bravest  battle  that  was  ever  fought, 
Shall  I  tell  you  where  or  when  ? 
On  the  maps  of  the  world  you  will  find  it  not, 
'Twas  fought  by  the  mothers  of  men. 

Nay,  not  with  cannon  or  battle  shot, 
With  a  sword  or  nobler  pen  ; 
Nay,  not  with  eloquent  word  or  thought 
From  mouths  of  wonderful  men. 

But  deep  in  a  walled  up  woman's  heart, 
A  woman  that  would  not  yield, 


s 


But  bravely,  silent'y  bore  her  part — 
Lo,  there  is  that  battlefield. 

No  marshalling  troops,  no  bivouac  song, 
No  banner  to  gleam  and  wave  ; 
I5ut  oh  these  battles  they  la^t  so  long, 
From  bab\  hood  to  the  grave. 

Yet,  faithful  still  as  a  bridge  of  stars. 
She  fights  in  her  walled  up  town  : 
Fights  on  and  on  in  the  endless  wars, 
Then  silent,  unseen,  goes  down. 

Oh  ye  with  banners  and  battle  shot, 
And  soldiers  to  shout  and  praise. 
I  tell  you  the  kingliest  victories  fought 
Are  fought  in  these  silent  ways. 

Oh,  spotless  woman  in  a  world  of  shame 
With  splendid  and  silent  scorn, 
Go  back  to  God  as  white  as  you  came — 
The  kingliest  warrior  born. 


M 


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